PALATINE -- Warren was failing its pre-final exam on angles at the Fremd Regional.The Blue Devils had the concept mastered with numerous diagonal through-balls, but couldn't finish the equation at the feet of a teammate.After almost three quarters through the allotted time limit, senior midfielder Abby Vrabel found the answer.Her angular ball from the left center of the field 35-yards out found a streaking Kate Chomko. The sophomore midfielder's touch was true from 17 yards and the ninth-seeded Blue Devils had the goal they needed to upset host Fremd 1-0 Wednesday night.To some, the game had the feel of a game headed to PKs, but Warren had other plans."I knew I had an open ball going through. There weren't really any defenders," said Vrabel, Chicagoland Soccer's MVP of the Match. "I know Kate has a really good touch on the ball in the box, and she can get it in the back of the net. I just sent it in and hoped for the best. "You just keep trying and eventually it will go in. I felt we had the momentum and if we kept going we'd eventually score." For a player who doesn't know how many goals she's scored this season, now two or three by her count, Chomko knew exactly what to do on the play. "I saw Abby coming down so I started sprinting down the sideline to get the cross," she said. "I saw it coming so I made sure I adjusted my run to make sure ball hit my foot perfectly. "You're just looking for composure and to make sure you don't hit the ball too hard so it goes over the goal --plant your foot so you aim for the corner. I saw the goalie. She didn't really have a good sight on the corner, so I made sure I aimed far post." Chomko's picture -perfect finish put the Blue Devil's in command on the scoreboard. For most of the game, Warren held sway on the field as well. The Blue Devils were well served by their unusual formation. Centerbacks Natalie McNally and Alexis Strothers are left in the back while the outside defenders push up a minimum of 5-10 yards to aid the offense. "We try to send as many people in to score as we can to increase our options," said winning coach Ryan McCabe. "We've been playing well recently by trying to build and get more girls into the attack. So whoever is available has the green light to go ahead and get in -- just keep possession a little bit more give us a few more options. "I don't know if they (opponents) are confused or not. I just think it gives us a man advantage where they don't nessasarily have someone built in to mark an extra player who comes in." Sophomore McNalley and senior Strothers don't mind the heat in back. "I think it's we're used to playing in that style," said McNalley. "I've played in that style my whole life so I guess I'm used to the pressure. "I didn't even know we were the lower seed. I just play the game. I think we all do, whoever the opponent is." McCabe felt his team's good vibe early on. "I was pretty pleased with how the girls started settling," he said. "The first few minutes of the game a lot of the regional jitters got out. Once we got hit a couple times that calmed us down a little bit, and the girls settled into the game, settled into the game plan. That's always nice to see." The first few minutes of the game, eighth-seeded Fremd looked best. But Warren showed it wasn't afraid to make plays. An early-and-dangerous Fremd foray in the box was quelled in anxiety-inducing fashion when Strothers calmly tapped the ball back to keeper Liz Carrano who blasted it out of danger. Soon after the start, Warren started to exert command with better touches and possession than its host. That concerned Fremd coach Steve Keller. "I knew it was going to be a dogfight," he said. 'Unfortunately we didn't come out in the first half ready to play, had a very poor first half. "I felt in practice we were ready. To me we looked nervous, almost playing not to lose as opposed to playing to win." Warren dictated the play in the first half though it didn’t show on the scoreboard. The Blue Devils failed to connect on several useful corner kicks from sophomore Alliyah Parker, and missed on numerous through balls. Despite a general lack of offensive danger from either side, there were moments. One that almost went Warren's way was a service from the right side from Valentina Rodriguez that almost curled into the far upper 90 in the 37th minute. Fremd's attack was hampered by Warren's offside trap, which netted numerous flags. The teams turned up the pressure early in the second half. Fremd sophomore Tara Bergles took a clever try, but missed when she attempted to loft a 30-yard shot over Carrano who started off her line to thwart the potential breakaway. The Vikings best early chance came on a 12-yard shot from senior Jessica Kopec off a feed from Missy Adrian, but Carrano easily handled the attempt in the 43rd minute.

Then Warren started to apply pressure with three chances in five minutes. The Blue Devils just missed on another through-ball when Rodriguez almost got onto the end of a long diagonal pass from senior defender Reilly Siepka, who pushed up from her outside back position in the 53rd minute. Rodriguez was stopped on a hard 20-yard shot after a give-and-go with Grace Wiltgen, who then missed on a header off a cross from Chomko in the 57th minute. Warren broke through in the next minute to send a jolt through Fremd. "We switched some things around at halftime, and I thought we played a little better in the second half but gave up a goal," Keller said. "Then we decided to really apply some pressure, but as you know it doesn't matter -- 1-0 games are often like that." The Vikings built an attack. Katie Zara made herself dangerous in the 59th, 61st and 62nd minutes, but nothing came to fruition including a threatening run that Strothers ended with a physical tackle. Fremd keeper Kelsie Stone kept her squad in the game with a brilliant save in the 63rd minute. She landed on the ball on a dive to her right when it appeared freshman Wiltgen had a sure insurance goal after a pass from Parker. The Vikings had a trio of chances in the final 10 minutes. The best came in the 71st minute when Adrian put her head on an excellent corner kick from Kellie Halloran. The shot arced over Carrano, who was off her line, but found Warren defender Corin Hill at her post on the right post for a crucial clear. Four minutes later Strothers came up big again when she chased down Zara on a free run on goal and stripped the ball with a sliding tackle. "There were a couple close ones, but it was just a step too slow or the defender was right on me," said Zara. "They were good chances, but you don't always get them. “We got a lot better and came together as a team throughout the season, and we really became tougher and possessed the ball more. I'm proud of my team for how we did, and I wish we could have gone further."

A Julia Szykle 24-yard free kick in the 78th minute was blocked by Ellen Szostak and time ran out for Fremd, which ended the season 10-9-1.

"We had our opportunities," said Keller. "They were the better team tonight."

Warren stayed with its funky formation and chose not to pack it in for the final 22 minutes.

"If it ain't broke don't fix it. If we can can keep on moving the ball up the field then it keeps it away from our goal," said McCabe. His team is 9-2-1 in its last 12 games after a 2-5-1 start which included losses to well-regarded squads Carmel, Lyons (PKs), Loyola, St. Charles North and Lake Zurich. "The unlucky stuff was just the learning process. We've got seven freshmen and sophomores who have started so they kind of had to figure out the varsity stuff," he said. "So a lot of those bad breaks came earlier in the year. And now opportunity is being met by preparation, and that's how you create your own luck I think." Vrable knows the Blue Devils will be ready to do their best against no. 1 Barrington on Friday in the regional title game. "I think a lot of people underestimate us. We show up in big games, and we have before," she said. "Hopefully that will be with us Friday when we play. "We've had unlucky chances with overtimes and PKs, and we haven't won. Hopefully it's in our favor now.Starting lineups